


End of The Day

by TeamGwenee



Category: A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin, Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: Angst and Comfort, F/M, Fluff, Graphic Description of Crime Scene, Modern AU-Detectives
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-04
Updated: 2019-01-04
Packaged: 2019-10-04 10:44:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,588
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17303168
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TeamGwenee/pseuds/TeamGwenee
Summary: After a wretched day at work, Detective Brienne Tarth just needs some time with the people she loves the most.





	End of The Day

Brienne glugged down her fifth cup of hot chocolate, but not even that could rinse out the taste of mould glued to the roof of her mouth and blood coating her tongue.

“I think perhaps you need something a little stronger,” Catelyn Stark said, pushing a glass of whiskey into her hands.

Brienne stared at the amber liquid, biting her lips. “I have to drive later.

“Get Jaime to pick you up,” Catelyn insisted, “I daresay you will appreciate a bit of his company.”

Arya stuck her head around the kitchen door, an impish grin on her face.

“Brienne!” She dashed in, throwing herself into the chair beside Ned’s. The youngest Stark daughter hero worshipped Brienne and would jump in the room every time Brienne visited and nag at her mother to pass her the phone each time she called.

Arya leaned across the table, nearly tipping boiling hot chocolate all over Ned’s lap.

“ _Arya,”_ Ned rebuked her, catching the mug and mopping up the spillages. Arya spared him an apologetic smile that had his frown melting in seconds, before fixing her sparking grey eyes on Brienne.

 “I thought I heard you in here? What are you talking about?” Arya demanded.

“Murder-suicide,” Brienne said dully, sipping at the whiskey.

“Leave, Arya,” Ned ordered.

“Stay Arya,” his daughter said cheekily.

“Don’t be rude Arya,” Cat said, “Your father is right.”

“Brienne, is this child friendly?” Ned asked.

“A child friendly murder?” Brienne asked. “Do you get any of those?”

“Well, there was that one with the clown with the acid concealed in his rubber flower,” Ned suggested.

“Tell me about the acid clown!” Arya demanded, jumping up and down in her seat like a child on Christmas morning.

“The Harrenhal Clown Attacks? You can just google it.” Brienne shrugged.

“I will!” Arya declared. “What murder-suicide happened today?”

“It wasn’t today.” Brienne shuddered, finishing the last of her whiskey. “It was last month.”

Cat stared at Brienne, her stomach clenching. “You mean to say no one found the bodies until now?”

Brienne nodded grimly. “They were squatters, the block of flats had been condemned and no one had been there in weeks. Until some poor lad from the council came across them and fainted.”

Cat patted Brienne’s hand, finally understanding the greyish tinge to Brienne’s skin.

“What was it like?” Arya whispered in awe.

Brienne cast an uneasy glance over at Cat, who just shrugged and nodded. Brienne’s version of the events was the lesser of two evils. No doubt Arya would only just tackle Jaime when he came to pick Brienne up, or else go surfing on the internet to satiate of gore lust. She and Ned really needed to sort out some child protection blocks.

“It was the stench that hit us first,” Brienne told Arya. “We could already smell it, seeping out from the bottom of the door. We were wearing masks but that did nothing once the door was down. It hit us like a brick wall. We could feel it brushing against our cheeks and settling into our hair. I could taste the rot coating the inside of my mouth and dripping down my stomach. The entire flat was covered in filth. And had been long before they died. The people who lived there, I cannot imagine….Rotten food on the coffee table covered in green mould and swimming in juice, dirty towels and clothes left on the floor, and the carpet was crusted from old-“ Brienne gave Arya an awkward look-“bodily fluids.”

“They pissed on the carpet?” Arya asked. “Theon did that once. He was drunk.”

“I think Brienne means semen, Arya,” Cat informed her grudgingly.

“Oh.” Arya frowned. “Theon got that on the carpet too."

"Was he drunk that time as well?"

"No," Arya said innocently. "What about the bodies?”

"I'm really not sure I should." Brienne looked at Cat and Ned doubtfully.

"IF you don't tell me, I would just ask Jaime. He'd tell me everything," Arya threatened.

Indeed he would, complete with diagrams and autopsy pictures. The little girl and Jaime had struck up a strange friendship that centred a great deal on Jaime smuggling her pictures of murdered bodies and telling her lurid crime stories. No wonder Cat was still so disapproving of Brienne and Jaime's relationship. 

"Go ahead," Cat said reluctantly, "I would rather she heard it from you." 

For all that she was feeling green about the gills, Brienne obliged. In truth she thanked the chance to exorcise the demons echoing inside her mind. “Maggots had feasted their way outwards and left giant cavities in their chest, whilst other crawled out from their eye sockets and their mouths. Their nails and fingers had fallen out and their corpses had begun to liquefy.”

Arya cupped her chin in her hand.

 “Cool,” she whispered.

Ned blanched. “Well, I didn’t need to sleep well tonight anyway.”

Brienne smiled apologetically. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t burden you with it.”

“Not at all dear,” Catelyn said, her kind tone somewhat undercut by her swiftly filling up her own glass with whiskey.

“I understand if you need some company. When does Jaime get off work? Would you rather stay here tonight?”

“That’s kind, but Jaime is no more eager to be alone than I am.” Brienne shook her head ruefully. “I’ve been doing this job six months now, you would think I’d have toughened up.”

“It takes years to get used to something like that,” Ned assured her.

“At least stay for dinner,” Catelyn ordered. “Jaime as well.”

“Please do!” Arya begged, “You still haven’t told me _why_ you think they were murdered.”

“Ad she certainly won’t over dinner,” Catelyn said swiftly, “Do you want Sansa to get nightmares?”

Arya rolled her eyes at her mother’s ignorance. “Of course I do.”

“It will have to wait, Arya,” Brienne agreed with Cat. “But I will take you up on dinner, and I’m sure Jaime will too. Only-“ Brienne hesitated, looking at Cat doubtfully, "would you mind if I had a wash. I had one earlier at the station but…”

“Say no more.” Cat smiled warmly. “I will text Jaime, you have a nice soak.”

Arya clutched Brienne’s hand as Brienne made her way to the bathroom.

“This conversation is not over,” Arya said fervently.

A long, relaxing soak was out of the question. Every time she shut her eyes or paused to think the image of that wretched flat assaulted Brienne’s eyes. Instead she scrubbed at herself until her skin was and shrivelled as a prune, finally emerging from the bathroom feeling something like human again. Cat greeted her on the stairs with some clean clothed.

“Here you go, fresh and laundered.” Cat pressed some large men’s pyjamas into Brienne’s hands. “I’m afraid they are all that would fit, but I thought you would appreciate a change.”

“Thanks Catelyn, really, thank you.”

“Jaime is on his way and has already threatened bringing pictures for Arya.”

Brienne grimaced. “He really doesn’t find the whole thing a joke,” she said anxiously. “It’s just his way of coping.”

“I know, and I understand,” Cat assured her, “Even so, please keep pictures of rotten corpses away from my twelve year old.”

“I promise.” Brienne grinned wearily. “And thank you for inviting Jaime, I know you two have had your troubles.”

Catelyn pursed her lips. “He is not the man I would have picked out for you,” she conceded, “I certainly once would have preferred you with someone a bit more grounded. A bit more serious. And I have no idea what your father would have thought of him.”

“He would probably have pulled all the strings available to have him relocated to the Eyrie,” Brienne agreed.

“Still, I have to admit, he seems to have done you some good,” Cat admitted, “Perhaps you needed some levity in your life, and he has never let you down… _yet_.”

Brienne raised an eyebrow. “ _Yet?”_

“I’m a mother Brienne,” Cat pointed out, “You can’t expect me to be too easy on the man. But I can invite him to dinner, which is a start.”

“And very much an appreciated one,” Brienne said, wondering if Cat could feel Brienne’s heart swelling with gratitude in her chest, “truly.”

Cat gave Brienne one last warm smile before leaving her in peace.

Brienne just finished pulling on the soft, clean pyjamas when her phone inside her bag pinged with a text from Jaime.

_~On way to Winterfell now. Hope you appreciate the effort I’m making for you Wench. Dinner with Ned Stark >:P~_

Brienne smiled and fondly rolled her eyes.

~ **Be civil. For me.~**

_~Anything for you my dearest Wench. I will scale the Wall naked for you, take on a dragon with my arms tied around my back and eat living cockroaches for you.~_

_~I would hold you all night until all of today’s memories fled and left you with nothing but sweetness. I would spend hours compiling clip after clip of animals falling of ledges just to make you smile. I would listen to you rant and rage over the cruelty of the world just to ease your burden. All for you.~_

Brienne stared at the screen, warmth filling her cheeks. She wondered if she should show Catelyn Jaime’s texts, for surely that would finally win her blessing for their relationship.

 _~Forgot to mention, tell Arya to check her emails. I’ve already sent her some of today’s crime scene, and let her know she’s got some headless orthodontists heading her way_ _😉~_

Or maybe not.


End file.
